Buffy forgives and forgets

Back in high school when I was having woman problems my mom explained to me one of the differences between men and woman.

Women are like duct tape. When you put duct tape on something and take it off, it leaves a gluey residue. Women hold on to feelings for long periods and even after woman reach resolutions to problems often there is a little left over emotional residue that never goes away.

Men on the other hand are like scotch tape. Sometimes you have to work at getting a piece of scotch tape off something but when you do it doesn’t leave anything behind. Men don’t hold grudges in the same way that woman do and are more likely to forgive and forget.

Dogs I’ve found on the other hand are like post-it notes. Post-it notes are easy to take off and leave no residue. All it takes to make up with Buffy is a quick pet and before you know it, it’s like she was never mad at you at all.

The other day we decided to give Buffy. You aren’t really supposed to bath Shelties all that much, maybe once a month. If Buffy gets dirty, Diana usually just wipes her down with a wet hand towel. That works pretty well but giving a full bath is far more effective in getting her cleaned up.

So we took Buffy in the bathroom and we let her wander around a little bit. Buffy is not a complete stranger to this room as Diana often lets her wander around when she is getting ready for work. Diana picked up Buffy and placed her a couple inches of warm water in the bathtub and Buffy immediately attempted to jump out of the tub.

After we got soaked and it becomes clear that Buffy was not going to stay in the tub all by herself. Diana decided it might just be easier if she got in the tub with Buffy. To calm Buffy down I offered peanut butter smeared on my hand for Buffy to lick off. This initially helped Buffy calm down and stop struggling but soon she stops wanting the peanut butter or any other treat I offered.

Buffy is a smart enough dog to know that when Diana and I are doing something with her that she doesn't like the fastest way for it to be over is for her to stop fighting it. So eventually Buffy stopped struggling, but started to quietly whines as Diana shampooed her and rinsed her off.

With a towel in my arms, I lifted Buffy from the tub. She struggled and clearly wanted to shake off but I wanted to get as much water off her as possible initially to prevent her from spraying the entire bathroom with water. To Buffy's relief I finally put her down, she immediately darted across the bathroom away from Diana and I and to shake herself off.

Tired, wet and hopefully only slightly traumatized, I expected that would Buffy need some time away from Diana and I, but she comes right up to Diana and I looking up at us, wagging her tail and ready to play. Too bad for Buffy, she needed to spend some quality time with Mr. Blowdryer.

Shetland Sheepdogs have remarkable double coats that keep them warm and dry in cold weather. The problem with the coat is that sometimes the coat traps moisture against the skin. This can cause skin infections and the only way to make sure Buffy was really dry was to use the hair dryer and man did she hate that.

While Diana held Buffy down, I blow dried and brushed her out. She barked, whimpered and tried to bite at the hairdryer. I have never seen her so angry and uncomfortable at something that we were doing to her. The amazing thing is that every time I turned off the hairdryer to give Diana and Buffy a break Buffy would walk around, shake herself off and walk right back up to us. It was as if she had completely forgotten that we were the ones who were making her uncomfortable and forcing her to deal with Mr. Hairdryer.

Maybe Buffy forgot what we were just doing, or maybe she understood that we were doing something for her own good. Or maybe it's the fact that she loves us so much that nothing we could do could change that at this point. I’m not sure. Whatever it is, Buffy’s ability to forgive is the purest example of loving the sinner regardless of the sin, I’ve ever seen. It’s inspiring, amazing and simply heartwarming.